Trump dumps on Sen. Deery, backs Copenhaver as redistricting payback starts
After president endorses in Senate District 23 primary, Deery say: ‘I didn’t lose any sleep over it last night.’ Lt. Gov. Beckwith: Senators who thought Trump was bluffing are ‘freaking out’ now.
President Donald Trump officially entered the Indiana Senate District 23 conversation, on Tuesday endorsing Paula Copenhaver — former Fountain County clerk and Fountain County GOP chair — over state Sen. Spencer Deery, a first-term West Lafayette Republican
Trump promised payback on redistricting getting rejected. And here he is.
In a post to the Truth Social platform Tuesday night, Trump called out Deery as an “incompetent and ineffective RINO incumbent” who “for whatever reason, betrayed his voters by voting against Redistricting in Indiana.” Trump wrote that Copenhaver had his “complete and total endorsement.”
It was one of several down-ballot endorsements Trump has offered in recent days in Indiana races, focused on lifting candidates challenging senators who would get on board with his plan to redraw congressional maps. As of Wednesday, Trump had offered shout outs to five challengers of incumbent Republican senators defied the redistricting push, according to a count by Indiana Capital Chronicle reporter Tom Davies.
Trump’s post also followed a pattern of showing results of internal polling that Trump claimed showed the weight of his backing. In the case of Indiana Senate District 23, Trump’s polling – done by a firm called Fabrizio, Lee & Associates, the race goes from a 22 percentage point advantage for Deery to a 31% advantage for Copenhaver when those asked heard that she had the president’s endorsement.
Trump noted in his social media post that he won the hard-red Indiana Senate District 23 by 26 points in 2024.
Deery won the district in 2022 by 27.2% over Democratic candidate David Sanders.
“Deery and his RINO friends made Indiana, a State I love and have been very good to, the only State in the Country that essentially said they don’t care if Democrats and Radical Liberal Judges keep conspiring to steal seats in the United States Congress from Republicans,” Trump wrote. “We could have easily picked up two seats in Indiana, but Deery, an America Last politician, would rather side with Far Left Democrats who will do anything and everything in their power to reverse the incredible progress we have made for the American people over the last year since I reassumed the Office of President.”
Deery said he was aware.
“I didn’t lose any sleep over it last night,” Deery said. “I find it easy to tune out voices from Washington when I focus on Hoosier voices and stay busy doing my job — passing legislation that strengthens our schools, takes on rising energy costs, and protects Hoosier taxpayers. Voters will decide this race, and they will listen more to the local voices who actually know me and know what I’ve done for their towns, schools and counties.”
Copenhaver said she was aware, too, “humbled and honored to earn the endorsement of the president.” She announced her campaign shortly after it the Indiana Senate initially said it wouldn’t meet in a special session called by Gov. Mike Braun because leadership realized the votes weren’t there. Copenhaver made Deery’s redistricting opposition the focus of her announcement.
“I recognize President Trump knows the importance of having a conservative fighter to defend Hoosier values and an Indiana First agenda,” Copenhaver said. “I am honored to have the president’s support and I look forward to earning the trust of hardworking Hoosiers in District 23.”
Did she think the endorsement would net a victory?
“President Trump won this district by 26%,” Copenhaver said. “His endorsement carries real weight — and time and again, it has proven to make a difference in elections across the country.”
Deery was an outspoken critic, early and often, of the redistricting plan, calling it a disingenuous idea that gives parties in power opportunities to pick their voters rather than the other way around. Along the way, he encouraged the Senate to reject gerrymandering and “to resist a federal government that attempts to bully, direct and control this state or any state.”
Deery was one of 21 Republican senators who voted against it, helping to kill the idea during a special session in December.
That drew criticism from more that Trump. Among those, Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith had Deery and others on blast. He’s promised to back Copenhaver – who works in his office – with a concerted effort in an Indiana Senate District 23 that sprawls from West Lafayette to Attica to Covington to Rockville.
On Wednesday, the morning after Trump’s endorsement of Copenhaver, among others, Beckwith said it was a promise made and promise delivered.
“I’m glad President Trump said something,” Beckwith told BiL Wednesday. “It goes to show you that Washington wants the Indiana Senate to be strong and to do better. … I think Senate leadership thought this was a bluff. Now they’re freaking out. Because they know they are going to have to spend a lot of money on these campaigns.”
During campaign announcements in recent weeks, Deery has been telling supporters to expect more along these lines.
“In this race, you’re going to see a lot of D.C. tactics, a lot of D.C. lack of focus on truth, stretches, distortions,” Deery said at a campaign launch earlier this month at 9 Irish Brothers in West Lafayette. “And it’s already started. It’s going to get worse.”
As things stand now, before the noon Feb. 6 candidate filing deadline, the winner of a Republican primary between Deery and Copenhaver would face David Sanders, a West Lafayette City Council member, who filed as a Democrat for a second consecutive run for the seat.
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God, this president is a relentless whiner
Like trump knows where Fountain county is. lol